Race Lineup : North Wilkesboro Speedway

• Saturday, May 17th, 2025
• NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer

Bell Cruises to Heat 2 Victory, Locks Up Front Row Start for All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro

In the second heat, which established the starting order for the outside row on Sunday, Bell led every green-flag lap. He surrendered the top spot only during a two-tire stop under the competition caution called on Lap 31, when Chase Briscoe stayed on the track and led six laps under yellow.

Unlike Keselowski in the first heat, Bell didn’t face any meaningful challenges for the lead. He finished 2.085 seconds ahead of runner-up Joey Logano, the winner of last year’s All-Star Race.

“It was really refreshing to be able to get out there and just cruise those first 30 laps,” Bell said. “I didn’t know how it was going to work out with Joey having four tires right behind me, but this thing (the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) was on rails.

“I’m really happy and excited about the opportunity tomorrow.”

Logano will start fourth on Sunday night, with third-place finisher Chase Elliott behind him on the outside row, fourth-place finisher Kyle Busch on the outside of the fourth row, and so forth.

Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton and Denny Hamlin finished fifth through 10th in the first heat. Hamlin fought severe handling issues with a car that had difficulty turning through the corners.

In the first heat, Byron finished third, followed by Blaney, Bowman, Berry, Reddick, Dillon and Stenhouse. Justin Allgaier, who practiced and qualified Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet on Friday, did not compete in the heat.

After qualifying 21st fastest in Saturday’s time trials for the May 25 Indianapolis 500, Larson will race his car at North Wilkesboro on Sunday.

Larson and the 19 drivers who competed in the heats on Saturday already are locked into the All-Star Race. Two more drivers will be added to the rear of the field from the All-Star Open, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET Sunday.

An additional driver will be selected through the All-Star Fan Vote, which Noah Gragson has won for the last two years.

• Drivers Entered: 10
• Laps Scheduled: 75
• Margin of Victory: 02.085 Seconds
• Time of Race: 0 Hours 30 Minutes 23 Seconds
• Average Speed: 92.567
• Cautions: 2 for 12 laps
• Lead Changes: 2
• Green Flag Passes: N/A